As I mentioned earlier the walking of thirty minutes three times a week could help you maintain a healthy weight, look your best and also offers you many health benefits, including a reduced risk of conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease
Today I’ll show you how walking could help you:

- Manage your weight

- Improve your mood

- Stay strong and fit.

1- Manage your weight:
It is possible to lose weight with diet or exercise alone. Losing weight “fast” is generally not a good idea because it is easier to gain it back. Exercise and a nutritious diet are the keys to success, you have to burn more calories than you consume. . Most doctors recommend 1 lb. per week as a safe and achievable weight-loss goal, and suggest that individuals cut or burn 500 calories each day of the week to reach this goal, therefore, if 3,500 calories equals about 1 lb. of fat, you would need to burn 3,500 calories more than you consume for every 1 lb. of fat you hope to lose.

2- Improve your mood:
A daily walking habit stimulates various brain chemicals that may leave you feeling happier and more relaxed. You may also feel better about your appearance and yourself when you exercise regularly, which can boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem.
A study by University of Texas researchers had people with major depressive disorders either rest quietly or walk on a treadmill for 30 minutes and tested their mood afterwards. Both groups had an improvement in mood, but those who walked on the treadmill had more positive feelings for well-being and vigor. The study was published in the December, 2005 issue of “Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.”

3- Stay strong and fit:
A walk every day is a  foolproof method for losing weight, staying strong and fit that doesn’t cost any extra money, it’s also a way to reduce stiffness and inflammation without any side effects,  your bones will remain strong and lessen stress on  your joints and improves arthritis symptoms.

Finally try to make walking part of your everyday routine

• Take a walk with your spouse, child, co-worker or a friend!

• Get outside!  Walk to class or meetings instead of driving or riding the Cat Tran.

• Use the stairs instead of the elevator.

• Park farther from your office or class.

• PLAN a walking meeting or lunch hour.

• Wear a pedometer to track your progress.

The need to go on a diet happens for different reasons. Some people need to go on a diet to lose a few pounds and to support exercise, while others need to be on a specialized diet to help control some medical issues and conditions. Regardless of the reason why you’re on a diet, the task and challenge of staying focused while on the diet can be quite challenging for some people and it leads most people to eventually fail on the diet, so don’t let that happen to you.

If you seek to learn tips and tricks as to how to stay focused on a diet, you need to first keep in mind that the primary reason you are on a diet is for your own personal benefit. Once you start to realize, understand and accept that the diet you are on is for your own well-being, you will begin to become more adapt and accepting of the diet itself.
As with the majority of lifestyle changes, being tuned in to the process is the best way to have a better mental outlook on the process and being focused on a diet is emotional in nature.

You can further help yourself to remain focused while dieting by employing various other methods of self-control and motivation. Maintaining a diet and food journal on a daily basis will help you stay in touch with the food you eat and also give you a guide to refer back to in order for reference points when you diet seems to be challenging. You can also employ a friend, colleague or family member to be your support system, as they too help encourage you so that you can remain focused and on the right track.

The other way in which you can stay on the path towards better living is to make sure you are using the right mix of foods in your diet.
One of the reasons people lose interest in a diet is that diets which are too confined or strict can become boring and hard to stick with over the long term. By making sure you incorporate the right mix of healthy, tasty and filling foods; you will have better success in being and remaining focused on your diet and overall goals towards better health. Dieting can be a life changing experience, and one that can give you a better body; both inside and out.

“Disrupting your biological clock leads to a disruption of metabolism such that there’s more of a tendency to put on fat,” even with the same amount of caloric intake or diet, said study co-author Carl Johnson, a chronobiologist at Vanderbilt University. “It’s not only what you eat but when you eat it that’s important.”

Night Creatures

Several studies in the past have shown that shift workers gain more weight and are likelier to develop diabetes. Past work also showed that mice (which are nocturnal) put on more fat if they can only eat during the day, even at the same caloric intake.

Eat Early

Findings hint that snacking late into the night may be worse for people than eating earlier in the day, Johnson said. The study is impressive, Satchidananda Panda, a biologist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., who was not involved in the study, wrote in an email.

“This paper for the first time conclusively shows there is a circadian rhythm in insulin sensitivity in animals and potentially in humans as well,” he wrote.

Because older studies have shown that humans have daily rhythms in their blood glucose, even with constant sugar infusion, researchers already suspected that insulin sensitivity waxed and waned throughout the day, he said.

It’s no secret that we need calories to fuel our body’s basic energy needs. Yet many of us find it difficult to take in the right amount—and the right kind—of fuel. No matter how many guidelines we’re given, we still crave what we know is bad for us. And in an era where sugary and fatty snacks are often within arm’s reach, resisting those cravings is becoming exceedingly difficult. So what’s an average consumer to do? Read on for some insight into why we behave the way we do around food, and what you can do to make eating healthier a little bit easier.

What is a sugary drink (also known as a sugar-sweetened beverage)? It is a drink with added sugar or other sweeteners, which provides added calories and little to no nutritional value.

• One, 20-oz bottle of regular soda has about 16 teaspoons of sugar.
• Teens consume twice as much soda as they do milk.
• On an average day, 80% of youth consume a sugary drink.
• A single, 20-ounce bottle of regular soda has about 16 teaspoons of sugar.
• The average person consumes almost 100 pounds of sugar a year, with the single biggest source being sodas.
• The American Heart Association recommends that the maximum daily intake of added sugars be no more than 4.5 teaspoons for teens aged 12-19.
• Did you know, health costs of obesity in the United States are $147 billion annually?

Natural vs. Added Sugar

• Not all sugar is created equal. In fresh fruit, for example, sugar occurs naturally in the food along with valuable nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber. So even though it has sugar, fruit remains an important part of a healthy diet.
• 100% fruit juice is also made up of natural sugars as well as nutrients and vitamins, but it doesn’t have the fiber found in fruit that helps you to feel full as well as control blood sugar.  This is why only 4-6 ounces of 100% fruit juice is all we need per day to avoid too much sugar.

However, processed beverages with added sugar have lots of sugar and calories, but almost no nutrients.  Regular soda, fruit drinks, sweetened teas, coffee drinks, energy drinks, sweetened milk or milk alternatives or any other beverage where sugar has been added are all considered sugary drinks.
How do you spot a sugary drink?

Read before you drink—every time. Before you open a bottle or pop a top take a second to read the nutritional facts panel. Find the amount of sugar in grams.  If you see more 12 grams of sugar (for a 12 ounce drink), that’s a sugar-loaded beverage. Stop and rethink your drink.

The ingredients label is where you would find natural or added sugars. Ingredients are listed in order of the amount that the drink contains. Check the first  three  ingredients on the list and if they contain any of the common sugars (see list above)  it generally has extra sugar added to the beverage.

Don’t buy into advertising that makes sugar-sweetened beverages seem healthier than they really are. Beverages like sweetened teas, sports drinks, and energy drinks try to look healthy, but they are loaded with sugar. Just look at the nutritional facts panel—the ingredients are right there in black and white, and they can’t be sugar coated.